It would be the stuff of dreams -if you could only get some sleep first.

Your very own darling baby actually sleeping through the night.

The lack of sleep is literally a waking nightmare from which many parents get little respite.

When will it end, you cry.

Well, it turns out you should stop wondering because the brutal truth is babies shouldn't really be sleeping through until they go to SCHOOL, writes the Mirror.

That is the verdict of Sarah Ockwell-Smith, the author of The Gentle Sleep Book.

Sarah uses scientific research to show why our opinions and expectations when it comes to baby sleep tend to be completely misguided.

Sarah believes part of the issue is that no-one wants to read a science book - not when there are other books telling parents that they can solve their baby sleep issues in a matter of days.

Sarah believes the many various forms of 'controlled crying' - where a parent is encouraged to leave their child to 'self-soothe' - are simply a result of our unrealistic expectations. More importantly, she is adamant they don't work.

"Most people think sleeping through means their child sleeping from 7pm-7am," Sarah explains on the podcast.

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"According to science, sleeping through is a block of five hours undisturbed. That could mean bed time at 7pm, you see them at midnight, and then you see them again at 5am.

"That's actually the definition of 'sleeping through' - that's one of the problems.

"We think a child should be sleeping through from 6 months. However, if you look at the research, at around 10 months old, only 15 percent of children are sleeping thorugh. 85 percent are waking and feeding regularly."